Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-19
THE DUTCH GAP CANAL.
Gen. Butler Tells Its History at the Re-
union Of the sixth Massachusetts.

Gen. Butler Tells Its History AT the Re-
union Of the sixth MASSACHUSETTS.
After song by the quartet, Col Jones
asked Gen. Butler to give his old comrades
history Of the rutch Gap canal The
/ general complied, and his explanation,
never before made. was listened TO with
intense interest b. all He said: THE
army of the James lay on Sept l3. 1864,
| along the outer lines of Richmond, ocCu-
pying portion of the line of the main
army under Grant. We could not ad-
| vance. because the enemy had control of
James river. and if the army passed in
the rear ut the forts the Confederate iron
cladS would have every advantage Of at
lacking them in the rear. French creek
makes a detour Of seven miles and returns
again Ia point where il is only 43j feet
from water IL water, and this is bluff
sixty feet high. | had consultation with
ten. Grant and his chief engineer | said
II We could get our iruuclads To drive the
enemy fleet up the river the army could
follow. but as the river was but seven
ieet deep around this seven mile detour,
and the irouClads drew fifteen or sixteen
leet, IL was not possible to get them
around. J then suggested the cut, which
was known as Dutch Gap; if it were made
we could get twenty-One feet of water
above and below the bend. Gen. Grant
agreed, and gave me the services of his
engineer. So while one of Buffers fail
ures, it was not one of his misjudgments,
as il was ordered by Grant
The work was at once begun, and on
Christmas day of 1864 il was completed,
except about twenty-five feet, which
formed a bulkhead between the water on
either side. During the process of eXca-
yation the enemy threw at least 30, 600
shells AT us The canal was to be ninety
feet across the bottom and an average
depth of twenty-five feet. During the
digging | had a hole made in the bank
and two men stationed on the bluffs above,
and when a mortar shell would rise from
the enemy's fleet they would shout
she'll aud all would run for the holes
and remain until the shell exploded
There WAS one mule Killed | believe, and
an army wagon destroyed, and that was
about all the damage done. had an en-
thnsiaStlc supporter in my work in the
person Of Admiral Melancthon Smith. who
commanded the Union ironclads, but he
was removed 10 another sphere of useful
ness just prior TO the opening of the canal.
Having properly mined the bulkhead, on
Dec. - | blew IL up, and in twenty
four hours there We're three feet of water
running through the gap. In twenty four
hours more, by dredging, / could have run
an lronclad through. At that hour |
stopped work, and the country and press
rang with the report Of Buffers failure at
Dutch Gap canal. couldn't tell then,
but | can tell now. After / opened the
hole the man who succeeded Admiral
Smith wrote me a letter. in which he
said: For Gods sake don't let the rebel
lion ironClads down upon us | have got |
that letter. | am not in the habit Of de |
stroying documents. But what could | |
dor | couldn't say then that our fleet |
was afraid of the enemy What would |
have been said of me if had done so'
But let me say that on Jan. 3, |
1860, the enemy's irOnclads came out of |
French creek when the water was high, |
and drove our irouciads SO fast that they |
didn't wait even to open the draw in the |
pontoon bridges, but crashed through !
them, and they, in my judgment. wouldn't |
have stopped until they reached Fortress !
Monroe but for the fact that one of the |
enemy vessels got ashore and the rest of |
he fleet was delayed SO long in assisting
her that the water began to fall, and they |
returned unharmed. As for that naval |
officer, whose name | won't give you, but |
you can read it in the history Of the coun
try, he was court martialed, found guilty .
If cowardice, and ordered 10 he dismissed
from the service. The order would have
been carried out, but il never WAS sp-
proved by the secretary of the navy. Now,
et Inc say that Dutch Gap is the only way
% get 10 Richmond by the James river.
French creek has grown up with grass.
It is the only nook that has ever been OF
my earthly use to humanity, and to day
5 benefit 10 navigation of the James"
Boston Globe.